December 6, 2010

How Can I Speed up the Process?

Q: I am a Canadian who lost my wife in 2003 of cancer. I re-married in 2007 with somebody I met online. She was living in Canada for 10 years, but she did not have proper documentation. She was ill advised and made a false refugee claim, under a fake name, that was approved, but now she realized that does not help her getting status under her real name.
In August2009 we married and she moved into my home, but in July 2008, when CIC found out about her real name, gave her a deportation order. I told her it was a good idea to leave Canada and I will sponsor her. She left Canada and I made a sponsorship application. When she left Canada she was pregnant for 4 months and she is due in January 2011. We were hoping for her to be able to join me in Canada sooner, so that our son is born here. How can I get her back as soon as possible? Do I have to apply for my baby separately? I await anxiously your reply. Thank you.

A: Yes this is not a situation that presents with easy solutions. First, allow me to clarify the circumstances surrounding your unborn son. You are a Canadian citizen and so even if your son is born outside Canada, he will be entitled to Canadian citizenship by virtue of his relationship to you and an application for citizenship and then a passport application. Having said this though, do not expect your wife to be permitted reentry to Canada in the next five months. Based upon her past misrepresentations and subsequent deportation order she is inadmissible to Canada. A “normal” sponsorship application will not suffice and you will have to make an application for discretionary and really compassionate relief to support a sponsorship application. You can neither expect a positive result nor processing of the file under a year. It will take much longer and might be refused. You will definitely need excellent counsel to guide you through the process. Good luck!